Summer Reading sugestion/question

[hifigator]

I followed the recommendation of a good friend of mine and checked "Confederacy of Dunces" out from the library. I am curious which if any of you have read it? I am enjoying it thoroughly. It is basically a comedy, and one of the few books that I have read that have you literally laughing out loud. It was written by John Kennedy Toole in the sixties and published posthumously in 1972. Just curious who has read it?

[hifigator]

Incidentally, it won the Pulitzer Prize in literature that year as well.

[HoyaOnBothSides]

Have to agree with HiFi here...phenominal book...also very interesting is the history of the publication (Toole's mother's struggles to get it published) and the history of making this book into a movie (or more accurately the failure of making such movie - most recently with Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, and Mos Def)...

[Coast2CoastHoya]

For those of us who haven't read it (and unfortunately don't have time this summer while prepping for the bar), mind giving us a brief synopsis?

[TigerHoya]

Just read Mark Bowden's Guests of the Ayatollah as I noted on the Ed Bearss thread on the 37th and O forum. Reading Fields of Honor by Bearss now.

Bowden's book was really good.

[hifigator]

tothebeach said:

For those of us who haven't read it (and unfortunately don't have time this summer while prepping for the bar), mind giving us a brief synopsis?

It is really hard to describe. The main character is named Ignatius Riley. He is a thirtyish year old who still lives at home with his widowed mother. He has a Master's degree and because he is "so smart" he thinks "above" almost everyone else. He doesn't have a job ... because he is above all of the openings. His mother, Irene Reilly finally insists on him finding gainful employment. He bounces around from place to place, including working as a secretary as well as a street corner hot dog vender. I know it doesn't sound very interesting but it really is. In a sense it is kind of like an older Woody Allen movie in that there are multiple scenes going on at the same time. You bounce back and forth but then ultimately the characters and props from the different scenes bump into each other. You really do have to read it yourself. It is set in New Orleans ... I think in the late fifties/early sixties era. Obviously civil rights are a main theme. Toole masterfully captures the different cultures ... you can almost hear them talking in their different dialects. Of course Ignatius uses very proper grammar and many obscure words as well as complex sentence structure ... because he is so smart. He among other things, represents what happens when you have lots of intelligence but zero common sense. Other characters include a beat walking police officer who takes to courting Ignatius' mom ... which of course he doesn't like. The busy-body aunt of the officer, a sexually promiscuous and very open lady whom Ignatius met while in college and an assortment of other true "characters." The amazing part is that you are really interested in what happens even though you care almost nothing about any of the individuals. Toole builds the characters alright ... they are just almost all bad, in that you really don't "like" hardly any of them. You kind of feel sorry for Irene, Ignatius' mom, but you really don't "like" her that much either. She is a wino, who keeps a bottle of cheap wine in her oven. She has spoiled Ignatius rotten so much that she can't get out of it now ... since he is a 30 year old with a Master's degree but still living at home with no job.

Again, it is very hard to describe but I haven't run into a single person who has read the book that didn't really like it. I have talked to about ten or twelve people who have read it and everyone enjoyed it immensely.

[hifigator]

I am almost done with "A Confederacy of Dunces." What other suggestions does anyone have to read next? Several friends have mentioned "Painted House." We were talking about a bunch of different books, but this got fairly high marks from those who had read it, although one professor admitted that part of why he liked it so much was that it was from the exact same era when he was growing up. Much of the book brought back memories. I think he said the book was set in Arkansas at the same period when he was growing up in eastern Oklahoma. In any case, does anyone have an opnion on "Painted House?"

[TigerHoya]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
"A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once. Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs."

Meet Ignatius J. Reilly, the hero of John Kennedy Toole's tragicomic tale, A Confederacy of Dunces. This 30-year-old medievalist lives at home with his mother in New Orleans, pens his magnum opus on Big Chief writing pads he keeps hidden under his bed, and relays to anyone who will listen the traumatic experience he once had on a Greyhound Scenicruiser bound for Baton Rouge. ("Speeding along in that bus was like hurtling into the abyss.") But Ignatius's quiet life of tyrannizing his mother and writing his endless comparative history screeches to a halt when he is almost arrested by the overeager Patrolman Mancuso--who mistakes him for a vagrant--and then involved in a car accident with his tipsy mother behind the wheel. One thing leads to another, and before he knows it, Ignatius is out pounding the pavement in search of a job.

Over the next several hundred pages, our hero stumbles from one adventure to the next. His stint as a hotdog vendor is less than successful, and he soon turns his employers at the Levy Pants Company on their heads. Ignatius's path through the working world is populated by marvelous secondary characters: the stripper Darlene and her talented cockatoo; the septuagenarian secretary Miss Trixie, whose desperate attempts to retire are constantly, comically thwarted; gay blade Dorian Greene; sinister Miss Lee, proprietor of the Night of Joy nightclub; and Myrna Minkoff, the girl Ignatius loves to hate. The many subplots that weave through A Confederacy of Dunces are as complicated as anything you'll find in a Dickens novel, and just as beautifully tied together in the end. But it is Ignatius--selfish, domineering, and deluded, tragic and comic and larger than life--who carries the story. He is a modern-day Quixote beset by giants of the modern age. His fragility cracks the shell of comic bluster, revealing a deep streak of melancholy beneath the antic humor. John Kennedy Toole committed suicide in 1969 and never saw the publication of his novel. Ignatius Reilly is what he left behind, a fitting memorial to a talented and tormented life. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

[Boz]

hifigator said:

I am almost done with "A Confederacy of Dunces." What other suggestions does anyone have to read next? Several friends have mentioned "Painted House." We were talking about a bunch of different books, but this got fairly high marks from those who had read it, although one professor admitted that part of why he liked it so much was that it was from the exact same era when he was growing up. Much of the book brought back memories. I think he said the book was set in Arkansas at the same period when he was growing up in eastern Oklahoma. In any case, does anyone have an opnion on "Painted House?"

I've not read Painted House, but if you liked Dunces that much (was required reading for anyone taught by Jesuits, but I haven't touched it in years), there is a lot of other writing available about it. The name Ignatius is no coincidence, for example. Explore. Write me a 1,000 word essay on that topic.

Just kidding. You could also take the author's own hint and go back and read Swift's satires. They're a little hard to understand in a modern context, if you don't know the politics of the era, but they are ripping. Same goes for Dickens, who is much funnier than anyone ever gives him credit for (bias note: please see my screen name).

Speaking more modernly, anything by John Irving would probably suit you too if you enjoyed this. All of his books are better than any movie made from them.

But basically, any good satire. Swift, Dickens, Irving all are giants in that field.

Or just go to Amazon and see what else people bought Dunces also bought.

[AustinHoya03]

hoyaonbothsides said:

Have to agree with HiFi here...phenominal book...also very interesting is the history of the publication (Toole's mother's struggles to get it published) and the history of making this book into a movie (or more accurately the failure of making such movie - most recently with Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, and Mos Def)...

My edition has a very nice foreword by Walker Percy describing his contact with Toole's mother and the beat-up, hand-written mEditedcript. I would expect they have kept this foreword in later editions (if there is a later edition -- mine is about 10 years old).

I know the guy who owns the movie rights -- he's a very interesting character. If I bump into him I'll try and get the scoop on what happened with the latest failed version of the movie. FWIW, one of the early planned casts included John Belushi and Richard Pryor, who are a notch above Will Ferrell and Mos Def in my book. That version of the movie derailed after Belushi's death.

[SFHoya99]

If you go Irving, for about his first nine books, he was essentially writing the same book with slightly different plots, so I'd go right to the grouping that I think is the strongest: Hotel New Hampshire, World According to Garp, Cider House Rules or my personal favorite book of all time, A Prayer for Owen Meany, whose movie was so freaking bad that Irving pulled the name.

His earlier stuff is fun, but there are only so many ways to incorporate Vienna, circus bears, wrestling, wife swapping and incest into a story line.

[hifigator]

austinhoya03 said:

hoyaonbothsides said:

Have to agree with HiFi here...phenominal book...also very interesting is the history of the publication (Toole's mother's struggles to get it published) and the history of making this book into a movie (or more accurately the failure of making such movie - most recently with Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, and Mos Def)...

My edition has a very nice foreword by Walker Percy describing his contact with Toole's mother and the beat-up, hand-written mEditedcript. I would expect they have kept this foreword in later editions (if there is a later edition -- mine is about 10 years old).

I know the guy who owns the movie rights -- he's a very interesting character. If I bump into him I'll try and get the scoop on what happened with the latest failed version of the movie. FWIW, one of the early planned casts included John Belushi and Richard Pryor, who are a notch above Will Ferrell and Mos Def in my book. That version of the movie derailed after Belushi's death.

You can sleep better at night now. Yes, the forward is still there. Ironically, I think it fits perfectly into the book almost as if on purpose. You get the feelings that a publisher endures faced with well-intended individuals who submit their relatives works and insist that they are "really good." I remember him saying that normally he can tell after just a page or two ... sometimes even one paragraph everything he needs to know. But the emotional incentive to be a little more "polite" for lack of a better word, when the relative submitting the work is the mother of the now dead from suicide author. It was a perfect forward to the book I thought.
Anyone know if Drew Barrymore was slated to be Darlene or Myrna Minkoff in the movie ... not that it matters anymore now.

Last thing: when my friend suggested it to me last Saturday I went over to the library to see if they had a copy. No Joke, we looked it up and they had just gotten a new copy the day before. It was a paperback and when I say it was a new copy ... it was brand spanking new ... not that it really matters ... but I think I was the first person to flip so much as one page. I took that as a good sign and I wasn't disappointed.

[C86]

Gator, thanks for starting this thread.

I love A Confederacy of Dunces. Let me rephrase that, I really love A Confederacy of Dunces. Some proof of this fact. First, on one of my first dates with the woman who became my wife I asked her (a doctor) to explain how the Pyloric Valve works. [For those of you not familiar with the book, Ignatius is troubled with a balky Pyloric Valve]. [For those of you not familiar with the gastrointestinal tract, the Pyloric Valve sits at the junction of the stomach and the small intestine]. Second, when my daughter was two, she took to wearing a red hunting cap with ear flaps. We called her Ignatius, and the nickname has stuck.

The next question is: why is ACOD a great book? The plot is not much to speak of (although Miss Trixie and the civil rights march at Levy Pants are inspired). No, ACOD is great because of Ignatius. His creation was genius. He is, at the same time, a narcissist, a bully, a glutton, a cheat, and a misanthrope. He is utterly comfortable with his own insane sense of self-worth, and entirely blind to his own ridiculousness. But at the same time, he is riotously funny, and endearing. I am aware of no other character quite like him. He is the reason to read the book.

The uniqueness of Ignatius is also probably why ACOD will probably never be made into a movie. Lots of actors could play the broad, physical aspects of his character. But I'm not aware of one who could also carry off Ignatius' imperiousness or his extreme intelligence. Belushi maybe could have done it. Will Farrell would be a disaster.

Perhaps that's for the best. Maybe Ignatius should live exclusively in print.

One final point, in New Orleans a statue of Ignatius stands on Canal Street, under the clock at DH Holmes Department Store.

[Bahstin]

Is HiFi becoming accepted here? Is his persistence paying off? I'll add this book to my list. I've recently read Kite Runner and A Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime. I highly recommend them both.

[HoyaOnBothSides]

c86 said:

Gator, thanks for starting this thread.

I love A Confederacy of Dunces. Let me rephrase that, I really love A Confederacy of Dunces. Some proof of this fact. First, on one of my first dates with the woman who became my wife I asked her (a doctor) to explain how the Pyloric Valve works. [For those of you not familiar with the book, Ignatius is troubled with a balky Pyloric Valve]. [For those of you not familiar with the gastrointestinal tract, the Pyloric Valve sits at the junction of the stomach and the small intestine]. Second, when my daughter was two, she took to wearing a red hunting cap with ear flaps. We called her Ignatius, and the nickname has stuck.

The next question is: why is ACOD a great book? The plot is not much to speak of (although Miss Trixie and the civil rights march at Levy Pants are inspired). No, ACOD is great because of Ignatius. His creation was genius. He is, at the same time, a narcissist, a bully, a glutton, a cheat, and a misanthrope. He is utterly comfortable with his own insane sense of self-worth, and entirely blind to his own ridiculousness. But at the same time, he is riotously funny, and endearing. I am aware of no other character quite like him. He is the reason to read the book.

The uniqueness of Ignatius is also probably why ACOD will probably never be made into a movie. Lots of actors could play the broad, physical aspects of his character. But I'm not aware of one who could also carry off Ignatius' imperiousness or his extreme intelligence. Belushi maybe could have done it. Will Farrell would be a disaster.

Perhaps that's for the best. Maybe Ignatius should live exclusively in print.

One final point, in New Orleans a statue of Ignatius stands on Canal Street, under the clock at DH Holmes Department Store.

Just need to say that this is a great post...

[tgo]

bahstin said:

Kite Runner and A Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime. I highly recommend them both.

just wanted to second these recommendations, both these books are very good. We read them both in my book club and they were very well received by a diverse crowd with sometimes differing tastes.

[hifigator]

Thanks for the info. I will definitely seek out the Holmes department store the next time I visit the Big Easy.

Incidentally, for those who haven't read Dunces yet, here are just a couple of the humorous/arrogant/pompous sayings from our beloved Ignatius:

"Obviously my excellence intimidates them."

"In spite of all to which they have been subjected, Negroes are nonetheless a rather pleasant folk for the most part. I really have had little to do with them, for I mingle with my peers or no one, and since I have no peers, I mingle with no one."

"In addition, I would studiously avoid sitting near the middle class in lunch counters and on public transportation, maintaining the intrinsic honesty and grandeur of my being."

"I was uninjured, and since pride is a Deadly Sin which I generally eschew, absolutely nothing was hurt."

"While I was desultorily attending graduate school, I met in the coffee shop one day a Miss Myrna Minkoff, a young undergraduate, a loud, offensive maiden from the Bronx. This expert of the universe of the Grand Concourse was attracted to the table at which I was holding court by the singularity and magnetism of my being."

"Myrna was, you see, terribly engaged in her society; I, on the other hand, older and wiser, was terribly dis-engaged.


Incidentally, there is a lot more to the book that just this one pompous character but this should help those who are unfamiliar with the book understand one small part of the brilliance.

[Cambridge]

sfhoya99 said:

If you go Irving, for about his first nine books, he was essentially writing the same book with slightly different plots, so I'd go right to the grouping that I think is the strongest: Hotel New Hampshire, World According to Garp, Cider House Rules or my personal favorite book of all time, A Prayer for Owen Meany, whose movie was so freaking bad that Irving pulled the name.

His earlier stuff is fun, but there are only so many ways to incorporate Vienna, circus bears, wrestling, wife swapping and incest into a story line.

Irving...a fellow Exonian. As if you couldn't tell from the fact that practically all his novels revolve around Exeter.

[SFHoya99]

cambridgehoya said:

sfhoya99 said:

If you go Irving, for about his first nine books, he was essentially writing the same book with slightly different plots, so I'd go right to the grouping that I think is the strongest: Hotel New Hampshire, World According to Garp, Cider House Rules or my personal favorite book of all time, A Prayer for Owen Meany, whose movie was so freaking bad that Irving pulled the name.

His earlier stuff is fun, but there are only so many ways to incorporate Vienna, circus bears, wrestling, wife swapping and incest into a story line.

Irving...a fellow Exonian. As if you couldn't tell from the fact that practically all his novels revolve around Exeter.

I sincerely hope your Exeter experience was not similar to Irving's. Cause that would be really messed up if it was (I'm merely extrapolating from his story lines).

[hifigator]

I thought I posted this earlier, but I can't find it. Maybe I was drunk at the time. In any case, the idea for A Confereracy of Dunces came from a Jonathan Swift quote. He said this:


When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in a confederacy against him.

from "Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting" -- Jonathan Swift